Samuel Greene and his wife, Angelena May, moved to Midtown in 2021 after visiting many cities and recognizing the current strengths and incredible potential of the Midtown neighborhood in particular. His background in Civil Engineering, passion for local governance, and regard for urbanism fuel his dedication to MNA.
He is most excited by the work to be done in four areas: Activations, Urban Beautification, Transportation, and Charity.
Activations – Midtown already draws visitors, workers, and neighbors from around the world but here is ample opportunity to more fully turn our high rises, mid rises, mixed use, and historic garden neighborhood from a collection of steel, concrete, and lumber to lively environments for friends old and new to connect and recreate. Samuel supports more outdoor dining, more nightlife opportunities with effective regulation to offer patrons and residents higher standards of safety and serenity, and more retail in appropriate corridors.
Urban Beautification – The level of development energy all across Midtown is a valuable resource, and that energy needs to be spent wisely. Midtown must stop spending excess energy on car parking. Samuel supports reducing the constant stream of new parking spaces by disincentivizing their construction, demands that new parking structures be designed to look like anything but parking structures, and seeks more collaboration with the Midtown Alliance on their great programs bringing green spaces and other natural touches to the neighborhood.
Transportation – Samuel’s vision for Atlanta is a city where driving a single occupancy car is the last choice people make. All new infrastructure should reflect this, and Midtown needs to upgrade existing infrastructure to prioritize other means of transportation. “Complete Streets” projects which turn vehicle lanes into linear parks and bicycle/scooter lanes are a perfect start and more must be done. Midtown needs to make it easier to use bicycles and scooters to get to destinations like Piedmont Park, Colony Square, Coda, Georgia Tech, Woodruff Arts Center, the Botanical Gardens, the Beltline, etc. And for the occasional trip, or even commute, that requires a car, we need to fix the problem of idling cars blocking travel lanes. Amazon, UPS, Fed Ex, the mail carriers, Grubhub, Uber Eats, and many others need places to temporarily stop, and Midtown should find strategic areas for them to do so. Easily identifiable and conveniently placed loading zones will allow couriers to do their jobs without ruining the flow of traffic around them.
Charity – Samuel believes that we can’t truly say we love our neighbors without acknowledging the plight of our transient neighbors. With a bit of organization and a lot of good will, he is confident we can take those living haphazardly across our sidewalks and help them find something better. “For every improvement we can imagine for Midtown, we must imagine double for those whose dreams have been tossed aside.”
